Fishing for Your Life
by Sueeastlake
Summary: The relationship between Robert T. Ironside and Mark Sanger, I believe, is the heart of the series. Mark helped the Chief to adjust to his new reality of paraplegia, and the Chief helped Mark turn around his life. This story brings the two together for a fishing trip that ends up more than they bargained.


Fishing for Your Life

Chapter 1

Daylight streamed into the half-moon Romanesque windows of the top floor of the Hall of Justice and onto the face of a slumbering Robert T. Ironside. As much as he wanted to continue his sleep, the Chief realized that he needed to awaken. Today would be a special day. So one eye opened and then the other and then a big yawn and a big stretch. Then the familiar bellow of "Mark!" was heard though out the office/apartment. Mark jumped up from his bed, stumbling half asleep, and scurried as fast as he could to Ironside's bed to see if the Chief was OK. "Chief," Mark said somewhat annoyed. "Are you alright? I was sound asleep until I heard you call. I was in the middle of a dream." Ironside was amused that he served as a human alarm clock.

"You must have forgotten, Mark, about our daytrip today. I am going to teach you the fine art of fishing. We are travelling north to the Russian River," Ironside reminded Mark. Mark replied, "Where I came from there were no fishing poles. We didn't know what a fishing pole was. You have a real challenge on your hands." The Chief grinned that closed-mouthed grin that was rarely seen by Mark, Ed, and Fran. "Help me get dressed, and then we can eat breakfast and be on our way." Mark dressed and then helped the Chief don his casual clothes and get into the wheelchair. Then Mark tied the Chief's shoes, since it was hard for him to do that.

Just as they finished the process of dressing, in walked Ed and Fran. "Good morning, Chief," Fran cheerfully said. "I see both Mark and you are dressed casually this morning. We should mark this date on the calendar. It's rare to see you not wearing your suit. Maybe you should try dressing this way more often." The Chief looked at Fran with that look that only he could give to signal his displeasure at her observation. Ed looked amused until he received The Look as well. "You two are going to stay here and see if you can manage to be the detectives you are supposed to be," Ironside sarcastically remarked. "Mark and I am going fishing and I will be teaching Mark the fine points." Ed made a face of disbelief that Mark was actually going along with the Chief with this idea. He received another Look from the Chief. That stopped in Ed in his tracks.

Fran made breakfast for the fisherman and the would-be fisherman and both ate quickly and had one more cup of coffee. "Mark, let's get going," Ironside said. "The fish won't catch themselves." Mark looked amused at the Chief's statement. Ironside turned quickly around in the wheelchair and Mark and he headed for the door with Mark pushing the Chief up the ramp. "Have fun both of you," Fran called to them as the door was closing. After Ironside was out of earshot, both Fran and Ed laughed. "How much do you want to bet that Mark doesn't catch anything, but the Chief will claim he did?" Ed said with amusement. Fran replied, "How about a dollar?" Ed responded, "You're on!"

After riding the elevator down to the garage, Mark walked alongside Ironside while he rolled to the van. Mark said to the Chief as he bowed, "Your chariot awaits." A small grin appeared on Ironside's face, but he didn't let Mark see it. Then the Chief rolled over to the side of the van with the lift, backed onto the lift, locked his brakes on the wheelchair, and rode the lift up to enter the van. Ironside backed into the van after unlocking the brakes and turned to assume his usual spot, while Mark climbed into the driver's seat. "Mark, you did check the tires to make sure that there are in good shape?" Ironside inquired. Mark indicated that all was well. The engine started and Mark and the Chief were off to their fishing adventure.

Chapter 2

Mark drove the van up to Jackson Street and over to U.S. 101 to the great Golden Gate Bridge. The Chief sat quietly in back of Mark's right shoulder, thinking about cases, even though he was on vacation. Mark was thinking about why he agreed to go fishing with Ironside. Ed would have been the logical choice, not him. But he decided that doing this activity with the Chief was a way to pay back him for all he had done. "Chief, where are we fishing on the Russian River?", Mark asked. Ironside answered, "There is a place in Cloverdale that will be easy for me to access and won't be far from the van. We can go there. There are many different fish that we can catch there." Mark answered, "You can catch."  
Mark continued to drive through Marin County and into Sonoma County. Ironside was reminded of the time he drove to Glen Ellen to the Commissioner's farm and flashbacks of his shooting came back to haunt him. But he wrestled to eliminate those thoughts from his mind and focused on the fun Mark and he would have fishing.

The pair arrived at the parking lot and Mark climbed out to the van and the Chief reversed the process to exit his "chariot". Mark walked to the rear of the van, opened up the back doors of the van, and pulled out the fishing equipment. Mark asked Ironside, "Are you able to wheel down to the river without help? If so, I will carry the fishing equipment." The Chief assured Mark that he could. Together they headed for the river. "Chief, how long have you been doing fishing?", Mark asked. Ironside looked at him and wondered why he would ask. But he replied, "Since I was a kid. We had a river running through our town, and my father took me there and taught me how to fish. Just like I will do for you." This, Mark realized was a part of the Chief's life that he never spoke about before to him. In a way, it was an honor to have the Chief share something that personal with him, something that probably he would only do with family. To think about how he hated Ironside when they first met. Their friendship withstood a few bumps along the way, but now he couldn't imagine not being part of the "family" with Ed and Fran, almost the only family the Chief had. Realizing that Ironside had stopped moving forward, Mark began walking again. Looking concerned, Ironside asked, "Mark, is there something wrong?" Mark looked at him and assured him that nothing was wrong. They continued their trek to the river and finally reached it. Ironside locked the brakes on his wheelchair and asked Mark to give him one of the fishing poles. "Mark, in order to fish, you need to know how to place the worm on the hook." The Chief held the hook on the end of the line and pieced the side of the worm with the hook. Mark's face scrunched up when he saw the injury to the worm, but he realized that he would have to murder the worm in order to go along with the Chief. "OK, Mark. Here's a worm. Your turn to put it on the hook." Mark looked at the worm and looked at the Chief, and then began the murder of the worm. "At least I can't be arrested for murdering this worm." The Chief looked at Mark half inquisitive, half amused. Once Mark finished, the Chief showed him the process of casting the line. Mark took the fishing pole and cast the line back, but he caught the hook on a branch of a tree. Ironside looked a bit exasperated. "Carefully tug on the line and see if you can loosen the hook", he instructed Mark. After carefully pulling the line, Mark was able to loosen the hook. He tried to cast the line and found success. The Chief placed his worm on the hook and cast his line. The two watched their lines to see if a fish showed interest. "Chief, you mentioned your wife once when you were in the hospital. What was she like?", Mark asked. Sadness came over Ironside's face, and he wondered why Mark brought up the subject. Mark saw that change of expression and wondered if he exceeded the invisible boundary between them. But the Chief quietly answered, "She was wonderful. We had a great life together. I think about her often." His voice trailed off to silence. Knowing about the loves that Ironside had won and lost, Mark felt a bit of sadness for his friend.

Just as silence had settled between them, Mark got a bite on his hook. "Pull on the line to set the hook", Ironside urged. "Keep pulling on the line". Mark pulled and pulled as the fish fought against him. Finally, Mark won the battle and landed a six-pound bass. He smiled from ear to ear as he saw the Chief display a rare smile. "You are now a fisherman", Ironside declared. "Now you can take the hook out of the fish's mouth and release him." Mark looked at him in disbelief. "After all of the work I did to get this fish, you are telling me to let him go?", Mark said. "Mark, that is sometimes part of the sport of fishing.", Ironside explained. "Part of the triumph of landing a fish is allowing the fish to live to fight another day." So Mark removed the hook and placed the fish in the water, making sure the fish was still alive. Ironside told Mark he could repeat the process of putting the worm on the hook and casting his line again. So, the two cast their lines and waited for another fish to bite. This scene repeated for a couple of hours until both of the men were tired of fishing. "Thanks for inviting me, Chief", Mark said. "I can be cool with my friends. Beautiful!" Mark gathered the fishing equipment and the Chief released his wheelchair's brakes and the two traveled back to the van. After stowing the gear and Ironside entering the van, Mark climbed back into the van, and both of them began the trip back to San Francisco.

Chapter 3

Both men were hungry, so they stopped in Healdsburg to eat. When they left the river, there was not clouds in the sky, but leaving the restaurant, heavy rain began to pour. Mark wasn't happy about having to drive in the rain, but he knew that saying something to the Chief would have yielded an argument. He kept his thoughts to himself.

Mark and Ironside entered the van again with the Chief the wetter of the two. Mark started the engine and drove the van out of the parking lot. The rain persisted as they traveled south. As they approached the area of Glen Ellen, a deer ran across the road ahead of the van. Mark slammed on the brakes, which caused the front-right tire to blow and the van to go into a skid. Mark held onto the steering wheel, while the Chief tried to stay upright in the wheelchair. The van veered to the right and with the skid and the blown tire, it flipped over on the right side and skidded until the momentum of the skid stopped. Mark was thrown over to the passenger side of the van and knocked unconscious. The Chief was thrown out of his chair and landed on the lift pad, his face and hands cut by a sharp edge and the wheelchair on top of him. The cuts were bleeding uncontrollably, and Ironside was also unconscious from hitting his head violently on the lift pad. The only sound was silence.

Chapter 4

After a few minutes, Mark began to stir, but slowly with a splitting headache. He began to orient himself and then remembered that the van flipped over. Then he sat up with alarm and cried, "Chief, are you OK?" Hearing no response, he gingerly stood up and looked behind the front seats to see that Ironside was laying on the floor of the van somewhat crumpled with his head against the lift pad, the wheelchair pinning him in position. Looking closing he saw the cuts on his face that were still bleeding and looking further down, saw the cuts on his hands, which were also still bleeding. The Chief's eyes were closed, and Mark concluded that the Chief was unconscious. Mark needed to get back to Ironside to check to see if he was breathing. Feeling anxious, Mark carefully moved between the two front seats, pulled the wheelchair off of Ironside and leaned over to check for any signs of breathing, fighting any feeling of dizziness. Mark called, "Chief, can you hear me." There again was no response. He watched to see if the Chief's chest rose and fell, and he felt relief when he saw movement. The movement, however, was shallow, which greatly concerned Mark. The first concern was getting the bleeding under control, which would be easier with Ironside's hands than his face. Mark searched and found the first aid kit. Quickly, he pulled out a roll of gauze and began wrapping it around Ironside's hands. Then Mark held his hands over the gauze to compress the cuts. The bleeding seems to slow, but not to stop completely. Mark tried to figure out how to compress the cut on the Chief's face, while holding his hands on the cuts on the hands. He decided to try to put gauze on the facial cut and turn Ironside's head to allow the weight to serve as a way to compress the cut. He had to pull Ironside over a little to get him unrumpled and then applied the gauze and turned his head. The bleeding slowed a little, but Mark concluded that he needed to get help. The Chief was dead weight at the moment, and Mark knew that he could pull Ironside out of the van himself. Looking around the van, Mark concluded that the back doors would be the best way for someone to pull out the Chief. The thought suddenly occurred to Mark to call for help on the mobile phone. He checked it, but it was not working. So the only think Mark could do was to stand up and pull himself to the driver's side door and try to open it. Pushing the handle of the door, Mark was able to climb out of the van. He waited for what seemed like an eternity for a car to appear on the road. Finally, a police car appeared. The patrol car stopped and Mark ran to it. "I'm so glad to see you", Mark exclaimed to the patrolman. "My boss, Chief Robert Ironside is lying unconscious on the side of the van with bleeding cuts on his hand and face. He is a cripple from the waist down. I apparently had my head hit the side of the van…" The patrolman held up his hand and said, "We knew about the accident, because someone called and reported it. An ambulance is on the way." Mark took a deep breath and sighed a sigh of relief. But he knew the Chief was not out of the woods yet.

The ambulance arrived along with the fire department. The men opened the back doors of the van and carefully crawled inside to where Ironside lay. The rescuers placed a foam collar around Ironside's neck and checked the cuts to see if they were still bleeding. There was a slight oozing of blood coming from all of the cuts, so it was decided to bring in a board and try to get the Chief onto the board and get him out as soon as they could. Because the Chief was dead weight, it took a lot of effort to get him on the board. Once that was accomplished, the rescuers and Mark pulled Ironside onto a gurney and rolled him over to the waiting ambulance. The attendant began a IV drip and plasma to help replace some of the fluid lost from the loss of blood and an oxygen mask, since Ironside's breathing was still shallow. "Where are you taking my boss?", Mark asked. "Well, we are near St. Mary's, so we will take him there," the ambulance driver told Mark. "You need to be checked out as well, since you hit your head on the inside of the van." Mark was resistant to the idea, but since he felt a little dizzy and was going in the ambulance with the Chief, he didn't object. "Can we retrieve my boss' wheelchair from the van?", Mark asked. He was assured that it would be retrieved by one of the rescuers and brought to the hospital. Mark walked to the ambulance and sat in the front seat.

While all of this was taking place, Fran and Ed were back at the office, finishing up the work of the day. They could help but notice that the Chief and Mark had not returned yet from their trip. "Ed, I'm starting to worry about Mark and the Chief. They have been gone a long time." Ed, looking a bit worried, replied, "Fran, they know how to take care of themselves." They may have been delayed by traffic or trouble with the van." But Fran replied somewhat tearfully, "If they had car trouble, they could have used the mobile phone to call for help. I think something is wrong!". Ed gave her a hug, which would have been unheard of when they first met.

The ambulance arrived at the hospital. The attendants hurried to bring in the gurney with the Chief into the emergency room. Along with them was Sister Agatha. Mark was glad to see her, because she had known the Chief since his shooting. "Mark, what happened to Robert?" Sister Agatha inquired. Mark replied, "We had a tire blow out during a rainstorm and the van skidded and flipped to the right side. The Chief was ejected from his chair and landed on his head and has cuts on his face and hands. I was so worried that he wouldn't make it. But some people think he is too tough to die." Sister Agatha assured Mark and told him that she would say a prayer. "If he survived his shooting," she said, "he will survive this. He is a tough guy." The nurses checked Ironside's records for his blood type and brought a bag of the correct blood type and start a blood transfusion. The cuts on the hands were stitched, since the bleeding had stopped. The facial cut still was oozing blood, so a nurse used more compression to try to stop the bleeding. It took a few minutes, but the bleeding stopped. The emergency doctors brought in a portable x-ray machine to check to see if there were any skull fractures. The x-ray came back negative, but the doctors determined that the Chief had a bad concussion. It was decided to move him up to intensive care. Sister Agatha asked, "Mark, were you injured in the accident?" Mark, feeling a little dizzy, replied, "I was thrown over to the passenger side of the van and probably hit my head. I have been feeling a little dizzy." Sister Agatha looked concerned and asked a nurse to bring a wheelchair. "Mark, please sit down in the wheelchair. We need to check you out as well." Mark was a little resistant to the idea, but seeing the verbal jousting between Sister Agatha and the Chief, he figured that he would lose the argument.

After being examined, the doctors decided that Mark had a slight concussion. Suddenly, Mark realized that Fran and Ed were back at the office and didn't know what happened to the Chief and him. Mark asked Sister Agatha if he could call both of them. Sister Agatha agreed to giving him a phone to call the office. Mark dialed the office number and the phone rang. Ed picked up the receiver. "Hello." "Ed, this is Mark. I am at St. Mary's. You need to get up here. The Chief and I had an accident with the van. I had a slight concussion, but the Chief has a bad concussion and has lost blood. It's touch and go for him." Ed's face grew serious. "We will be there as soon as possible.", Ed said to Mark. "Watch over the Chief like you have for all of these years." Ed hung up the phone and looked at Fran. "What's wrong, Ed?" Fran asked with concern. "We need to get to St. Mary's", Ed said with a sober tone. "The Chief and Mark were injured in an accident and Mark wanted us to get there as soon as possible". Tears welled up in Fran's eyes. "I knew something was wrong", she said. Ed didn't want to sound harsh, but he took the lead from his boss. "Fran, tears wouldn't help the Chief right now. We need to get to St. Mary's to support him." Fran shook her head to affirm Ed's statement and the two headed for the door of the office to help support their boss and friend.

Chapter 5

Ed drove quickly, almost flying to get to St. Mary's with Fran. As soon as they arrived, they hurried to the front door and located Mark, seated in a wheelchair. Sister Agatha was with him, giving him some medication for his headache. "Boy, am I glad to see both of you", Mark exclaimed. "I felt so alone trying to get the Chief rescued. At least the troops are here now." Fran gave Mark a hug. Ed looked at Sister Agatha and asked, "How is the Chief? Has he regained consciousness?" Sister Agatha looked somewhat forlorn. "Robert is still unconscious. We have been able to control the bleeding, but there is still no response. We have him on oxygen, since his breathing is still not normal. He must have been projected hard against the lift pad. We have Mark to thank for taking care of him after the accident to minimize the injuries that he could treat. At least you are all here to support Robert as you have before. Maybe he will somehow know that you are here and it will help him to find consciousness again." Sister Agatha placed her hands on Ed and Fran's arms to reassure them and then left to check on the Chief's condition. Fran looked at Ed with a worried look. Ed placed his arm around her shoulder to comfort her. Then he turned to Mark.

"How did the accident happen?" Ed inquired. Mark looked at Ed with a puzzled look. "We started back in a driving rain, which I don't like for driving, but I can manage. I didn't want to anything to the Chief. Suddenly the tire on the right front blew and I lost control with the van flipping on the right side. That's all I remember until I regained consciousness. I know I checked the tires before we left, so I don't know why we had the problem with the tire." Ed looked at him. "The important thing is that the Chief and you are alive. Yes, the Chief got the worst of the deal, but what you did to help him may have made all the difference. I wonder, though, if we should look at the tire to make sure that it was just a freak accident. Where is the van?" Mark was unsure where the van was taken, so Ed called the police, identified himself and found out that the van was still on the road where the accident occurred. "Fran and I will go to look at the van to see if something may not be proper," Ed said to Mark. Just as Ed finished speaking, Sister Agatha appeared with a smile on her face. "Robert has shown some movement", she said. Fran, Ed and Mark all had broad smiles on their faces. "He is not totally conscious, but he moved his hands a little and the nurse heard him moan in pain, probably from his head injury. His breathing has improved." Ed asked if they could just peak through the windows to see the Chief. "Just for a moment.", Sister Agatha cautioned them. "He will not recognize you." Sister Agatha led them to the intensive care unit. There they looked through the glass to see their friend lying in the bed with machines around him, IV bags, an oxygen mask on his face and bandages on his face and hands. Ironside seemed to move his head slightly, but his eyes were still closed. "I just feel relief just to see him." Fran said. "I just know he will be alright." Mark looked at that person behind the glass and let out a sigh of relief that he had survived. Ed had not expressed his fears to the others, but was afraid that the Chief would not survive this time. He was also relieved. Now that they all were able to check on their friend, Ed and Fran could travel to look at the van. Mark stayed behind, since he still had a slight headache, but also to be the guardian of their friend.

Chapter 6

The accident scene was about 10 miles from St. Mary's, so Ed and Fran rode there to look at the van. The van was still lying on the right side, it was still raining a misty rain and nightfall had come. Fran pulled a flashlight out of the glove box and both Ed and she opened the doors of the car and walked over to the van. There were patrolmen there looking over the van, so they could write their report. Fran approached them and asked if they found anything unusual as they checked the van. "We have looked over the van with a fine tooth comb, and haven't seen any unusual," said one of the patrolmen. "Did you check the right tire thoroughly," Ed asked. The patrolman looked at him with some contempt, but answered, "Yes we did." Ed wanted to see the area along the edges of the blown out area of the tire. "What do you think you will find if you look there?" the patrolman asked. "My friend Mark who is also my boss's driver said that he thoroughly checked the tires before leaving San Francisco. I just want to satisfy my curiosity." So Fran and Ed walked to the front of the van and Ed bent down to look at the front right tire. He felt around the tire and looked at the gaping hole where the tire rubber blew. Looking closer, he noticed that one edge of the hole seemed even, which seemed odd, if the tire just blew the rubber open. Ed asked Fran, "Don't you think that looks unusual to have that straight edge." Fran took a look and agreed. Ed then asked the patrolmen if he could have the tire checked for fingerprints. "I think that maybe this tire was cut in a way to make it blow under stress. If we can find fingerprints near the straight edge, that would prove my theory." Fran looked at him and observed, "The Chief taught you well. He would be proud of your investigative skills, but he would deny it if asked. I wonder, how he is?" Ed looked at her and said, "I will have the team contact us at the hospital, so we can go there and find out what is happening with the Chief." So Ed and Fran walked back to the car and began the return trip to St. Mary's.

Chapter 7

When Fran and Ed returned to St. Mary's, Sister Agatha was paged to come to great them. Ed looked at Sister's Agatha's face to get a clue about how the Chief was progressing. Sister Agatha began speaking before Ed had a chance to speak. "Robert's status is still the same. Mark is with him, talking to Robert, hoping that there will be some response. I don't what Robert would do without all of you, but especially Mark. He seems so loyal to Robert." Ed and Fran both nodded their heads. Ed responded, "Mark hated the Chief when he first came to work for him. But the Chief invested time and pushed Mark to get an education and continually showed interest in his welfare. Mark is grateful for all the Chief has done, but if he tried to express that feeling, the Chief would not want to hear it. Mark would give his life for the Chief, if it came to that. May we join Mark and be with the Chief and him?" Sister Agatha agreed. "We need to have this "family" together. So all of them went to the intensive care unit. Mark was seated in the wheelchair next to Ironside's bed, and Ed and Fran heard Mark say "Chief, it's Mark. Can you hear me? I need you to wake up. Ed and Fran are here. We all need you to wake up." All of the people in the room watched to see if the Chief's eyes would open. Mark continued to talk and encourage Ironside to wake up. Then suddenly, Mark heard a weak, but familiar voice whisper some words. Mark didn't understand what the Chief said at first, but he rose up from the wheelchair, bent his head over Ironside and heard the words repeated. "I'm thirsty. My head really hurts." Ironside's eyes were slits at first, but then the Chief opened his eyes momentarily. The pain was so great, that he closed his eyes again. Mark's face had a big smile, and looking at the others, they had the same expression, Fran's smile seeming to be the biggest. She even had a tear of joy in her eye. Mark sat down in the wheelchair, and the nurses administered some pain relief to Ironside, but didn't want to have him return to unconsciousness. They also placed a sponge with water to his lips to give him some relief from his thirst. Sister Agatha thought it would be best for Ed and Fran to leave to allow the Chief to get some rest. Mark stayed by his side. As Fran and Ed were leaving, Ed received a page for a phone call. Ed came to the telephone. "Is this Sgt. Brown? This is the lab. We have results from the fingerprints." Ed asked, "What did you find?" The answer was shocking. "There were fingerprints and they belong to Sgt. Miller in Homicide. We are certain about this." Ed's face showed the surprise that he was feeling. Fran saw his expression and wanted to know what he heard. Ed thanked the lab and turned to Fran. "The tires were sabotaged. The suspect is Sgt. Miller in Homicide." Fran's mouth opened wide. "What was his motivation to attempt murdering the Chief and Mark?" Ed shook his head. "We won't know until we pick him up and interrogate him." Ed called the Hall of Justice and asked to have Sgt. Miller picked up on suspicion of attempted murder. "We will have to drive back to San Francisco and leave Mark and the Chief here," Ed reluctantly said to Fran. "As soon as we finish this interrogating the suspect, we will return." Fran was torn between going back to San Francisco and staying, but she knew the Chief would not be happy if she wasn't doing her job. So, she followed Ed out to the car and they began the drive back to San Francisco.

Chapter 8

Mark continued to sit by Ironside's bed and watch over him. His thoughts wandered to the years that he spent with the Chief and was relieved that he would survive. Lost in his thoughts, he heard in a weak voice, "What happened, Mark?" Mark arose again and spoke. "Chief, we were in an accident and both of us were injured. You have a concussion and cuts." Ironside turned his head toward Mark and inquired, "Are Fran and Ed here?" Mark responded, "No, they had to go to San Francisco to take care of a case. They'll be back." The Chief appeared to have a little grin. Mark asked why he looked a bit happy. "At least I know that the two of them are doing their jobs." Then Ironside closed his eyes to get more rest and Mark returned to his thoughts.

Fran and Ed arrived back in San Francisco and drove to the new Hall of Justice. Sgt. Miller had been taken there for interrogation. Ed and Fran came into the room where the suspect and Lt. Carl Reece sat. They would be there to observe, but the detective would ask the questions. Lt. Reece began by making sure that Sgt. Miller was read his rights and the began questioning by asking "How long have you been with the force?" Sgt. Miller answered, "Ten years." Another question, "Do you know who Chief Robert T. Ironside is?" Sgt. Miller answered, "Yes, I had contact with him in the course of my time here." Lt. Reece asked another question. "Were you near the garage in the last few days?" Sgt. Miller was unsure why this question was being asked. He responded, "Yes, but only to get my car to go out on a case. Lt. Reece looked at Ed, aware that the evidence proved that a lie was being committed. He asked "Are you certain that you didn't do anything else when you were in the garage?" Sgt. Miller became agitated. "What are you getting at? I still don't know why I am here. "Why don't you believe me?" "Sgt. Miller," Lt. Reece began, "we have evidence that you were at the Chief's van and sabotaged the right front tire by cutting it slightly so if enough stress was place on the tire, it would blow and cause an accident. Your fingerprints were found on the tire." Sgt. Miller rose up and tried to reach over to Lt. Reece to attack him, but the patrolmen in the room restrained him. "Why did you want to harm Chief Ironside?" Carl Reece firmly asked. At first Sgt. Miller was unwilling to say anything, but finally he blurted out, "He embarrassed me and ridiculed me once. I hate people who treat me that way." Carl Reece knew that Robert T. Ironside was not an easy person to understand, but he replied to Sgt. Miller, "Is that any justification for trying to kill someone?". Sgt. Miller look at Lt. Reece with an inquisitive look. "What do you mean trying to kill someone?" he said. "I was just trying to scare him." Carl Reece countered with anger. "Well your little scare has turned into attempted murder, because Chief Ironside was almost killed and Mark was injured by your little prank. Officers, take him and book him!" Both Fran and Ed were relieved to catch the suspect that harmed their friends. With this task out of the way, Ed and Fran hurried down the car and drove back to St. Mary's.

Chapter 9

An eye and then another opened and the Chief turned his head and looked over at Mark. "I never asked you, Mark, if you were all right." Mark assured him, "I hit my head and still have a little headache. But more importantly, you are getting better. Chief, I was afraid when I first saw you injured that you wouldn't make it. Whether you want to admit it, you have changed my life." Ironside looked at him and quietly said, "It is not in my character to thank people often, but I thank you for saving my life." Mark replied, "We both saved each other's lives.

Just after Mark finished his sentence, Fran and Ed walked into the intensive care unit and both of them were pleased to see that the Chief looked a little better. "I'm so glad to see you awake, Chief", Fran exclaimed. She went over to one side of Ironside's bed, leaned over, and gave the Chief a little kiss on the cheek, which Fran liked to do as a way of expressing her friendship and love of Ironside. The Chief responded with a small grin. Fran smiled broadly. Ed told Ironside a little about the arrest of Sgt. Miller. The Chief was pleased that Ed and Fran did their jobs. He had trained them well. With the "family" of friends together, Ed and Fran decided that Ironside needed to have some rest. Sister Agatha stood at the door, grateful that Robert had people who cared about him, even if he would always admit it.

With the van repaired a few weeks later, Mark drove to St. Mary's to spring the Chief. He had recovered enough to come back home to his home. The wheelchair that had pinned Ironside in the van now had its usual occupant back where he belonged. Ironside's hands had healed to the point he could maneuver the wheelchair. As he prepared to enter the van, Sister Agatha stood alongside him. The Chief looked at her. "Sister, I am grateful for your help once again, but don't tell Mark, Ed, and Fran that I said that. They may expect me to do that more often." Sister Agatha assured him that she wouldn't. "You are a lucky man to have those three people in your life. Take care of yourself and I hope that I don't see you here again for a long time." Then Ironside assumed his position on the lift and rolled into the van when the lift reached the top. He waved goodbye to Sister Agatha and took his position behind and to the right of Mark. "Where are Ed and Fran?" Ironside asked. "Oh, they had to go out on a case. You know how you want them to focus on their job. Where do you want to go, Chief? Mark inquired. "Home, if you don't mind" was the Chief's response.

Driving over the Golden Gate Bridge, both men silently were glad to see the bridge again. Both may not have seen it again, if events had been different. Mark drove over to the Old Hall of Justice and into the garage. He exited the driver's seat and walked over to meet the Chief and took his familiar position at the back of the wheelchair, helping Ironside roll over to the elevator. Ironside turned the wheelchair around and backed into the lift. The elevator rose to the floor of the apartment/office. Mark helped push the Chief up the ramp, as they had done many times before and reached the door. Waiting inside was Ed, Fran, the Commissioner, and Carl Reece. Fran had cooked a big kettle of chili and a big pot of coffee. The door opened and everyone inside cheered that the Chief had come home. The Commissioner smiled. "Glad to have you back, Bob. We missed you." Carl Reece expressed a similar sentiment. Ironside rolled down the ramp and to the familiar octagonal table with Mark following him. "Bob, Lt. Reece and I have to get back to work. Take care of yourself." The two men exited, leaving the four friends together to celebrate. "We know you can't have alcohol right now, so we have ginger ale to celebrate", Fran explained. "We are glad to have you home. The four friends clinked their glasses, and Ironside toasted them. Then they sat down to a big bowl of chili and conversation. 


End file.
